Using a Home Stereo as a Guitar Amp,
and Other Advice for New Electric Guitarists

>Hi Michael,

>

>I've just found your site and it is a wealth of
information! The only

>problem is that the information is above my level of
understanding on the

>subject, but that's my problem as I'm a beginner trying
to learn more!

>

>Well, I've just started out on guitar, learning from an
acoustic. I am

>wanting to move onto an electric, but have not got the
money to buy an amp

>yet. I am wanting to know if it is possible to run an
electric guitar into

>my stereo system. If so, can you let me know how? Are
there any risks?

>I'm trying to search the internet on this topic, but am
not having much luck

>at the moment.

>

>Thanks for you time and help.

>

>Regards

>Henry

It is a great opportunity for me to advise a beginner about
gear. It is time for me to summarize my most important conclusions at the
amptone site.

First you should read http://www.chariot.net.au/~gmarts/guitar.htm
- a polished, relevant intro to electric guitar gear. Then read Amptone.com --
I've read all the amp tone books and watched the gear videos, but my site is far
ahead of them. I've been re-reading wonderful books about recording the guitar
and getting guitar sounds. See list at bottom.

There are no risks for plugging a guitar into a home stereo,
just look for these issues:

Level mismatch. If your guitar produces a quiet signal,
there will be more background hiss than there should be.

Blowing a speaker. I think I did this, perhaps from playing
guitar directly into the stereo too aggressively without compression or
distortion -- it's all one narrow frequency band, which, when clipping, can
blow a tweeter of your high-fi speaker. The POD, a miked guitar amp, or a
compressor, would protect the speaker.

If your guitar produces a loud signal, when you hit a chord
with a humbucker pickup, a nasty clipping will result.

A stereo has the wrong input impedance. Your guitar will
likely lose some high treble. A guitar pedal that does not have true bypass
will be good as a buffer to preserve the high treble.

A BOSS EQ pedal is good for this, and after buying a guitar
amp that has good preamp distortion, you should buy an EQ pedal to put before
that distortion, to control its character. An EQ pedal also enables you to
boost or cut the volume, to better match what the stereo expects, to get
maximum signal/noise ratio without clipping. You can also use the EQ to
deliberately clip the stereo, controlling which bands dominate the clipping.

If your stereo has multi-band EQ, cut the high-treble band,
but boost the mid-treble band -- to simulate a guitar speaker.

Test for loss of treble; connect your guitar to the stereo
several ways and see whether you get more treble.

A very large part of guitar sound is the guitar speaker,
which does not produce high treble. Another large part is power-tube
saturation. The classic chain for a real guitar sound is:

If you fake any step, it will sound fake. You could buy a
POD and connect that to the stereo -- that's what it was designed for. However,
you will get a more authentic sound by buying a tube amp (guitar amp with power
tubes, not just preamp tubes) and a power attenuator.

I think beginning guitarists should not buy "beginner
amps". A great setup for very authoritative sounds at home volumes is:

EQ pedal ($60 DOD or $85 BOSS)

Good tube amp (not necessarily expensive)

Hot Plate

A good, practical, flexible tube amp has these features, in
my opinion:

o Well-voiced preamp distortion

o 4 tone controls, not just 3. (bass, mid, treble, presence)

o Effects loop - enables putting an EQ to fine-tune the
distortion and get the best Tone, or use time fx such as echo while still using
the amp's built-in distortion, without getting garbled distortion.

o 30-50 watts (loud enough to compete against drums)

o Reverb

o Speaker (separate cab has some pros/cons)

A high-power tube power amp combined with the Hot Plate will
enable you to produce power-tube saturation at any volume in the room, from
just louder than the unplugged guitar all the way up to the amp's full power --
very flexible and cost-effective. It's a waste to buy these inflexible systems:

o 50 watt tube amp without also having a power attenuator
(such a system wouldn't be able to produce power-tube saturation at home or
cafe levels).

That's why the most traditional and flexible system is a
full-power tube amp combined with a power attenuator, especially the Hot Plate.

The Hot Plate, unlike the Marshall Power Brake, has volume
fine-tuning and treble/bass boost for home levels of playing, and a convenient
Line Out jack so you can form a "power-tube saturation pedal" like an
ultimate Overdrive pedal to drive a second tube amp.

With your stereo, use an adapter to change from 1/4" to
RCA connectors. Your stereo might not have a Mono mode. Get the latest Radio
Shack catalog and study all varieties of connectors, cables, adapters. You
probably will want a Y connector. It's a good idea to lean towards 1/4"
connectors and cables rather than buying cables with mostly RCA connectors.

Don't buy some gear and devote all your time to it. Buy some
gear, then ignore it and visit all the music stores regularly, plug into
everything in sight. Play all the guitars into all the fx and amps. Get to know
all the employees at all the stores, get familiar with trying out all the gear.

Take guitar lessons, if you want to learn 1000 times faster
than you could on your own. If you are lazy and in a hurry, lessons are the
fast-track shortcut secret.

Leaping to the Advanced Rig-Design Concepts

To conclude, let me list this advanced Blues chain (series
of stages). If you have seen this, you have seen every key principle of basic
amp Tone. I am currently experimenting with this chain which uses multiple
stages of slight power-tube saturation to produce ultra tubey sound. A
Boogie-type preamp uses 4 stages of slight preamp-tube clipping; the below
approach is similar but uses 2 stages of slight power-tube saturation. I have
never heard of anyone using a series of power-tube saturation stages before.
Imagine a series of 3 UniValve amps, the first 2 using their built-in Hot Plate
(as full dummy load) and Line Out jack. http://www.amptone.com/thdunivalve.htm

Getting Great Guitar Sounds, Second Edition. Michael Ross.
1998. 80 pages. $14.95. Available at Music Books Plus. Developing, controlling
and shaping your own personal guitar sound. Various principles of sound in
acoustic and electric guitars. Multieffects units, amp simulators, and advanced
effects rigs. Many artists are included in the "How Did They Get That
Sound?" section, such as Robben Ford, Eric Johnson and David Torn. Ross
lists his favorite effects units and tells why they will provide most of the
sounds guitarists will need. I have this. It's good.

Recording the Guitar. John Harris. $23.50. 1998. 156
pages.Available at Music Books Plus. Avoid spending ages getting that great
guitar sound, then after putting it on tape, having it sound like a wet string
flapping limply in the breeze. The author is a guitarist and recording
engineer. A collection of valuable tips to help you get stunning results from
your recordings. Setting up, strings, intonation and playing techniques. When
to mic up, when to DI, and when to do both. Diagrams illustrate a range of
different mic positions to coax the sweetest sounds from your acoustic. How
different pre-amps -- valve, transistor, digital -- can be used for different
sorts of music. How to put your masterpieces with effects -- compression,
reverb, delay, gating, flange, chorus, harmonizers and more. setting up your
guitar; electric and acoustic guitars; mic'ing for acoustic guitars; DI and
speaker simulators; using preamps; improving your sound with effects; MIDI for
guitarists; production tips and tricks. I have this. It's very good.

Getting the Sounds: Classic Rock Guitar (video) - Learn how
to get all the great classic rock guitar sounds from the Beatles to Jimi
Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, The Police, and many more. This video will
provide you with a complete tonal "menu" from which to select your
favorite sounds. 1999 -- $19.95

Getting the Sounds Classic Blues Guitar (video) - by Warner
Brothers. Keith Wyatt, master Blues guitarist and educator, demonstrates how to
create the soulful sounds of all the great legends of the Blues guitar. From
classic hollow-body sounds to the sustain of modern solid-body guitar, the
colorful history of Blues sounds and techniques are covered by Keith in detail.
Includes tips on how to choose and then "dial in" amplifiers and
guitars for maximum effect. Keith also demonstrates several classic Blues licks
and rhythm patterns as performed by the masters. It's all about "Getting
the Sounds! Get the Sounds of: B.B. King, Robben Ford, Albert King, T. Bone
Walker, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Muddy Waters ... and many more. 1998. VHS -- $19.95

The Guitar Shop Series: Getting Your Sound (book and CD) -
by Tobias Hurwitz. How do your favorite guitarists get their sounds? Learn the
setup secrets of the masters and find your own great sound with this 56-page
manual for serious guitarists. Read about guitars, amplifiers and effects units
and how to make your own gear work its best. Each effect is covered in depth,
and a special section details the setups of the masters, suggesting ways to
recreate their sounds with basic effects available anywhere. A special section
on the physics of sound is included. This is a must for every electric
guitarist. The included CD demonstrates all the guitars, amps, effects and
master guitarists' setups. 1998, 56 pges. Book & CD. -- $15.95. I have
this.